How had she gotten under his skin so quickly? He needed to strengthen his resolve not to get involved with her.
What resolve? It’s too late, and you know it.
He’d done it again. Fell for a woman he hardly knew. Kicking a feed bucket, he sent it skittering across the room where it knocked over a shovel.
At least he thought he’d known Lydia. But with Emily, he had to admit he didn’t know a single thing about her. Except that she was beautiful, and he loved talking to her. Oh, and her mother and father were both dead, which did nothing to help him steel his heart against her.
Needing something to do, he grabbed a pitchfork and went to the closest stall and started fluffing the fresh laid straw. Robert found him there less than a minute later.
“Hey,” Robert said.
“Hey,” Jake grunted, avoiding Robert’s gaze. He pushed the straw to one side of the stall, then knowing that wasn’t where it belonged, he flung it back across the floor.
“So, when was this stall last cleaned?”
“This morning,” Jake grunted again, slowing his actions.
“And what exactly are you doing?”
Jake froze. “I don’t know.”
“Is something wrong?” When Jake didn’t answer, Robert went on. “I passed Debbie on my way here. Did she throw herself at you again?” Robert bit back a smile.
“No.” Jake leaned the pitchfork against the wall and hooked his thumbs into his pockets. “She didn’t get the chance. I was... busy.”
Robert’s eyes narrowed. “Busy?”
“I was...” Jake cleared his throat. “I was with Emily. I kissed her. I mean, she kissed me. Actually, she forced me to kiss her.”
Robert laughed. “She forced you to kiss her? I’d love to see exactly how that went down.”
Jake shot him a watch-it-or-I’ll-punch-you look.
Robert’s eyes sparked with amusement. “So... are you bragging or complaining about kissing Emily?”
“Neither,” Jake growled.
“Was it that bad?”
Jake gave him an incredulous look. His mouth watered at the memory of strawberries and lemonade.
“It was that good?” Robert guessed.
Jake nodded, unable to stop the grin that pulled at his lips.
“It must have been amazing to fluster you like this.”
All Jake could do was smile and nod again. He looked at the straw he’d been shuffling around and chuckled at himself.
“So, what exactly is your problem?”
Jake’s smile faded. “It was only for Debbie’s benefit. Emily said it was the least she could do after all I’ve done for her.”
“Oh.” Robert’s face grew serious. “That’s not what a guy wants to hear after an earth-shattering kiss.”
Earth-shattering was a good way to describe the kiss he’d shared with Emily. “Yeah.”
“Well, did you tell her you enjoyed it?”
